President Joe Biden made a surprise trip to the besieged capital of Ukraine on Monday, travelling under a cloak of secrecy into a war zone to demonstrate what he called America’s “unwavering support” of the effort to beat back Russian forces nearly a year after they invaded the country.
Biden arrived unannounced early on Monday morning to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the two stepped out into the streets of Kyiv even as an air-raid siren sounded, a dramatic moment captured on video that underscored the investment the US has made in Ukraine’s independence.
“One year later, Kyiv stands,” Biden declared at Zelensky’s side in Mariinsky Palace. “And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands.”
“Thank you so much for coming, President, at a huge moment for Ukraine,” Zelensky said.
Biden promised to release another $500 million in military aid in coming days, citing artillery ammunition, Javelin missiles and Howitzers, but he did not mention the advanced arms that Ukraine has sought.
Zelensky told reporters that he and the president spoke about “long range weapons and the weapons that may still be supplied to Ukraine even though it wasn’t supplied before”.
Biden joined Zelensky for a visit to St Michael’s Monastery in downtown Kyiv, where the sun glittered off the golden domes as the air-raid alarm wailed.
Trailing two soldiers bearing a wreath, the two leaders walked along the Wall of Remembrance, where portraits are on display of more than 4,500 soldiers who have died since Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014 and first fomented a rebellion in eastern Ukraine.
The air-raid alarm stopped by the time Biden got back into his motorcade and departed the monastery.
Air-raid alarms sound almost daily in Kyiv, but the blare of the siren added to the bristling tension of the moment. Ukrainian officials have been warning that Russia is planning a largescale missile bombardment to be timed to the one-year anniversary of the war.
The alarm on Monday morning was triggered by a Russian MiG fighter jet taking off in Belarus, which borders Ukraine to the north. A missile from a MiG fired from Belarus can hit a target in Kyiv in under 20 minutes.
Biden had already been scheduled to arrive in Warsaw on Tuesday morning for a two-day visit, and White House officials had repeatedly brushed off questions about whether he might also travel to Ukraine while in Europe.
Indeed, the White House on Sunday night issued a public schedule for Monday showing the president still in Washington and leaving in the evening for Warsaw, when in fact he was already half a world away. But the President has made American support for Ukraine the centrepiece of his argument for a revitalised alliance in Europe, and he had told advisers that he wanted to mark the first anniversary of the invasion as a way of reassuring allies that his administration remains committed. Biden slipped out of Washington in the dark of night without notice.
Air Force One took off at 4:15am on Sunday east coast time. Just a few reporters sworn to secrecy and deprived of their telephones were brought with him, along with Jake Sullivan, the President’s national security adviser; Jen O’Malley Dillon, his deputy chief of staff; and Annie Tomasini, the director of Oval Office operations.
The reporters travelling with him were allowed to send a pool report to other journalists only after his arrival and were not permitted to further describe how he travelled to Kyiv while he was still in the country.
A US official, who asked not to be identified, confirmed that after a trans-Atlantic flight to Poland, Biden crossed the border by train, travelling for nearly 10 hours to Kyiv as other American officials have in recent months because flying into a war zone is unsafe.
He was to leave on a similar train trip and then, after crossing the border, head to Warsaw. It was an arduous journey for an 80-year-old President, who nonetheless appeared energised by the opportunity to come in person.
Wearing a blue suit with a blue and yellow striped tie, the colours of the Ukrainian flag, Biden arrived in Kyiv at 8am “It’s good to be back in Kyiv,” he told ambassador Bridget A. Brink, who was waiting for him.
New York Times News Service